


Autumn Visitors

by autobotscoutriella



Category: Redwall Series - Brian Jacques
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon, Reunions, Slightly AU I suppose
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-27 21:06:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17774231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/autobotscoutriella/pseuds/autobotscoutriella
Summary: When Lonna Bowstripe left the Northern Shores to face his enemy, he told the tribe that rescued him that he would not return. Seasons later, though, things have changed. Takes place after the end ofLoamhedge.





	Autumn Visitors

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [FandomWeekly](https://fandomweekly.dreamwidth.org/191987.html) challenge "Unexpected Company". I'm relistening to the _Loamhedge_ audiobook, and even though canon indicates we'll never get this reunion, I wanted it.

In the dim grey of an early autumn morning on the Northern Shores, waves lapped gently against the rough pebbled beach and murmured along the rock outcrops. The sound of the sea should have been the only thing breaking the silence, but this morning there was something else - the distinct crunch of a ship's timbers grating against the tideline, accompanied by muttering voices. Stugg knew that sound well from seasons past; it could not be taken for anything else.

The tall otter moved soundlessly down the beach toward the noise, hidden from view by the rocks and the fog. It was early in the season for Sea Raiders, but they had been known to start ranging north as soon as the ice cleared. Early warning might save his tribe, if he could avoid being detected long enough to bring back word.

Though he could not hear the words clearly, they weren't the shouts and curses he would have expected from searats. As he got closer, the outline of the ship - a large one, big enough to carry the entire tribe and then some - appeared through the mist, and the voices became clearer.

"I say, sah, are you _sure_ we haven't run onto a bally reef? Sounds like the ship's stuck fast, wot!"

"Yes, Captain, I'm sure." The second voice sounded familiar, but Stugg could not quite place it, though he thought he should have been able to. "The shores are rougher here than they are in the south. Though I wasn't planning to run aground just yet."

These were no searats. Stugg took a chance and stepped out from behind the rocks, counting on the fact that his knowledge of the coastline was clearly better than the new arrivals'. "Ahoy there! You need some help, mates?"

He wasn't sure exactly what he had expected, but the creature who came bounding over the ship's rail to land in the shallows was not it. It was a tall lanky hare, wearing a military jacket with half a dozen medals pinned across the front. "And who in the bloomin' flip are you?" The hare splashed out of the water onto the shore and shook water off his limbs, eyeing the ship distastefully before turning back to Stugg. "Don't suppose you've got a pack of otters around who can help us get the jolly old _Waverider_ off the rocks before we're stranded here for good?"

Stugg couldn't help a chuckle at the hare's indignation. "I think we can manage that. My name is..." He trailed off mid-sentence as another creature landed in the shallows, this one much larger and an oddly familiar silhouette. As the badger emerged from the mist, it became immediately clear why the voice had been so familiar. It had been a long time, but Stugg had never forgotten the giant badger who had visited their shores long ago when he was barely older than an infant. "Lonna Bowstripe, is that you?"

The distinctive scar that ran across Lonna's face from eartip to jaw had been freshly stitched together when Stugg had last seen him; now, it was long-healed and had faded slightly into the fur, though it still stood out against the black and white stripes. The badger's muzzle was greying, but his smile was as warm as ever. "Stugg, my little friend, I didn't think you'd remember me."

"Of course I remember you!" Stugg bounded into the water and held out a paw, which was quickly engulfed by the badger's giant one. "How could I forget? I talked about nothin' but you for a season after that. My father never could answer all my questions, but we never forgot you." He stared up at Lonna, barely able to believe his eyes. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again. My father said you'd seen that you'd never come back here."

"I thought I had." Lonna waded ashore at Stugg's side. "But it turns out even a Seer can be wrong, and after Raga Bol met his end, I felt that perhaps I should consider returning - now that I can be sure death will not follow me. Oh, I should introduce my companion--this is Captain Hortwill Braebuck of Salamandastron."

Stugg nodded politely to the hare. "My name is Stugg, son of Abruc and Marinu."

"Pleased t' meet you." The hare tossed off a salute. "So you're the young'un we sailed halfway across the bally world to meet. Don't suppose you've got any scoff, have you? Nothin' works up an appetite like sailing, wot."

Stugg had never met a hare, but he decided he liked this one. "My mother makes the best chowder on the Northern Shores. The caves are just up that way." He pointed, but hung back for a moment as Captain Braebuck started forward. "Lonna, when you say Raga Bol met his end...were you _there_ when that happened?"

A grim smile creased Lonna's face. "Oh, yes. That murderer will never destroy another family, Stugg, you have my word on that."

Stugg decided not to inquire further. "My father will be glad to hear that. And the whole tribe will be glad to see you again--they still tell stories about you, you know."

"Do they?" Lonna's smile turned less grim and far more genuine. "Maybe they'll tell me some of them."


End file.
